Qualifier Retief Goosen rolls back years, only one shot back in The Open
By Michael Sherman from ANA
The two-time US Open champion led the charge of the eight South Africans in the field and shared second with five other players, one shot adrift of American Dustin Johnson who fired a sublime bogey-free 65 to set the pace on day one.
Goosen, 46, booked his spot in the Open by winning a qualifier in a playoff at the beginning of the month as his world ranking has slipped to 209th.
"Maybe there is something good coming here," said Goosen after his round.
"I got lucky in the playoff to get into The Open with all three of us hitting horrible tee shots, and I hit mine out of the rough to 10 feet while they struggled. Maybe it's something good coming."
The Goose would be hoping to emulate fellow South African multiple-major winner Ernie Els who won the Open in 2012 at the age of 42, when he was not expected to contend.
Goosen began his day with two birdies in a row, before giving a shot back at the par four fourth hole. Birdies at the fifth and eighth steadied the ship as the former European Tour Order of merit winner went out in three under 33.
Coming home, Goosen notched up a trio of birdie threes at the 10th, 12th and 18th holes to complete a masterful first round score.
"Today I made a few good putts, and it all comes down to putting, especially on the front nine, the way it was playing," said Goosen.
"There were a lot of wedges and so on that you could get close, and then you just had to make the putts. I know the greens fairly well around here. I've played here many, many times, and especially like my putt on 18, it's hard to see that it's actually going to break up the hill. It's just from playing lots of golf here and seeing those breaks before."
Fellow Major champions, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen carded a pair of 67s to share eighth spot on the leaderboard. Oosthuizen, in particular, looked in top form as defending champion on the course he won his Open Championship by a massive seven strokes in 2010.
Branden Grace finished on three under 69 to keep his name in the top 20 in a share of 19th. Grace comes off a fourth place finish at the US Open, and kept himself in contention on a course where he triumphed in the Dunhill Links in 2012.
Els, meanwhile reeled off four birdies offset by three bogies to sign for an opening one under par 71 to leave the four-time Major champion in 45th place.
George Coetzee battled his way to a 74 for 115th spot, Thomas Aiken was even further down in 131st place with a 75 and Jaco van Zyl struggled to a 79 for a share of 152nd.